You couldn’t have found a venue more packed with flannel shirts, Sperrys, and light-hearted music than at the Bethan/Vacationer/Tennis show last night at Club Dada.
The night started off differently than it ended with the opening act Bethan. With odd, sometimes dark, melodies and a lead singer who’s gentle gaze could inspect every bit of your soul in one glace, the band certainly did garner a lot of attention. However, the atmosphere was not exactly dance-filled per se. Nevertheless, Bethan humbly accepted the stage and performed earnestly.
Up next was Vacationer, who’s sound is more on the same page as Tennis’s delightful pop noise. Littered with piano loops and stringy guitar riffs, Vacationer sounded indeed like they were off to vacation somewhere warm where they could order something sweet with an umbrella in it. Something in them gave off a cheerful feeling, as if you could just tell that they were happy to entertain. The group definitely increased the pace of the audience’s movement, and adequately prepared everyone present for the headlining act to complete the night.
After Vacationer was done, Tennis finally arrived on the stage, consisting of husband and wife duo Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley and two touring members to help throw the show. For the two concrete members of the band, summoning up energy from cute indie-pop seemed effortless.
Most (if not all) the songs on the set list commanded a certain strength that made a surprisingly large bulk of the crowd dance along to Riley’s guitar strumming and Moore’s vocals. When favorites from the new Young & Old album that Tennis was promoting for the tour (such as “Petition” or “Traveling”), most of the crowd broke out into doo-wop hip twisting and the likes. Before performing “Robin,” Moore announced that it was her birthday and the crowd then, after a moment’s pause, broke out into a happy birthday chant (humorously saying “happy birthday dear Tennis” when the time to announce her name came.) After a shockingly loud set with intervals of Moore’s soft-spoken voice relaying commentary to the crowd, the group played their new single “Origins” and then quickly exited the stage.
